Shipley signals increased user pays

Press Release: New Zealand Alliance Party
17 February 1998

"There are twelve separate areas where the government is imposing
extra costs on ordinary New Zealand households," Alliance leader Jim
Anderton said.

"Mrs Shipley has used code words, but the meaning is clear.

"You will pay more for ACC premiums. You will pay user charges for
roads. Ordinary households and small businesses will face costs from
postal deregulation and privatised SOEs. You will have to pay more
for health insurance as more of the public health system gets
privatised. You will have to pay more for your retirement as Mrs
Shipley sets out to smash universal publicly provided Superannuation
from 2010.

"This government is planning dramatic increases in costs facing the
ordinary household.

"This is not an agenda that will create more wealth by creating more
jobs. It is not an agenda which will create a fairer, more caring
and more exciting country.

"It's the agenda begun by Roger Douglas fourteen years ago and the
irony is that the more it fails, the more bad medicine we're
prescribed."

Twelve separate areas where user charges will increase:

Superannuation: removal of universal national superannuation from
2010;

Higher energy charges following privatisation of Contact;

Higher user charges and lower government revenue from sale of
Auckland airport;

Higher user charges following sale of further SOEs;

Higher user charges and reduced service following postal
deregulation;

Higher user charges following ARST asset privatisation;

Reduced wages/conditions from removal of minimum holiday
entitlement and removal of the Employment Court;